Ban for Brazil's latest coach

Around the World

Brazil

Brazil

Emerson Leao, the new national coach, has been banned from the touchline for his first match in charge.

Leão was given a 20-day suspension by a Brazilian Football Confederation disciplinary commission for insulting the referee during a match with his club, Sport Recife. The volatile coach was sent off after the incident, which happened before he took charge of Brazil.

The commission said the suspension would include Brazil's home World Cup qualifier against Colombia on 15 November. Leão named his squad for that match yesterday and included the veteran striker Romario, who has scored seven goals in two games since returning from a two-year international absence. Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid's left-back, was overlooked for the third consecutive match but Leão called up two uncapped players: the 18-year-old Flamengo striker Adriano and the Ponte Preta midfielder Mineiro.

Flamengo's 4-0 win in a João Havelange Cup match at the weekend was their second in a week following the appointment of the veteran coach Mario Zagallo. Another former World Cup coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, had an unhappy debut in charge of Santos. His team lost 1-0 at home to Bahia and had the striker Edmundo sent off.

Italy

The Italian Football Federation said yesterday it had found eight First and Second division players guilty of match-fixing.

Three were from the Serie A club Atalanta and the other five play for the Serie B team Pistoiese . Their punishment will be decided later.

The charges related to an Italian Cup tie between the two sides in August, which ended 1-1. Atalanta led at half-time, Pistoiese equalised three minutes from full-time. There had been suspiciously heavy betting on a 1-0 half-time score and a full-time score of 1-1.